Correlation Between the Screening Serum N-Terminal Pro B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Concentration and Subclinical Atherosclerosis in Patients With and Without Arterial Hypertension

Objective: Serum N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide concentration (NT-proBNP) is a marker used in the diagnosis of heart failure. Identification of patients with subclinical atherosclerosis is crucial to optimizing cardiovascular disease prevention. Among the tools used to identify subclinical atherosclerosis, it is worth mentioning the intima-media thickness (IMT), the ankle-brachial index (ABI), and the toe-brachial index (TBI). The purpose of this presentation was to present the results of a study on the correlation between screening serum NT-proBNP concentration and parameters of subclinical atherosclerosis. Design and method: The study consisted of a retrospective analysis of data from patients hospitalized for planned diagnostics. Exclusion criteria: 1) acute illness within the last month; 2) left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40%; 3) symptoms of heart failure on physical examination; 4) renal failure. ABI was measured bilaterally using a Dopplex® Ability Automatic ABI System (Huntleigh, Healthcare Ltd., Cardiff, UK). TBI was measured using a Dopplex DMX Digital Doppler (Huntleigh Healthcare Ltd., Cardiff, UK). Arterial ultrasound was obtained using an RS80 EVO device (Samsung Medison Co., Ltd., Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea) with linear probes (LA4-18B and LA3-12A). IMT was measured in the common carotid artery (cIMT), common femoral artery (cfIMT), and superficial femoral artery (sfIMT). Correlations were examined using Spearman's rank correlation test. p < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The final analysis included 84 individuals. 60 (71.43%) had hypertension. The mean age was 64.15 ± 15.11 years. People with hypertension were older (69.5 ± 11.02 vs. 50.78 ± 15.86 years; p < 0.001). In patients with arterial hypertension, NT-proBNP was significantly negatively correlated with ABI (R = –0.337; p = 0.008) and TBI (R = –0.255; p = 0.049), and significantly positively correlated with cIMT (R = 0.352; p = 0.006), cfIMT (R = 0.385; p = 0.002), and sfIMT (R = 0.29; p = 0.025). In normotensive individuals, no significant correlations were found. Conclusions: Screening serum NT-proBNP concentration was found to correlate significantly with parameters of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with hypertension but not in normotensive individuals. Further research is needed to determine the factors influencing the identified relationships.